Learning What Happened: The Fate of a Black
by innail
Summary: Harry asks Narcissa Malfoy and Andromeda Tonks to come to Grimmauld Place, where he shows them the note from R.A.B. and tells them the fate of their cousin, Regulus Arcturus Black.
1. Chapter One: Revelations

A/N: I do not own Harry Potter. I am merely... borrowing it for a while... yeah... I'm "borrowing" it...

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**Learning what happened: The Fate of a Black**

**Chapter One: Revelations

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**

_Andromeda –_

_There is something you need to know. Meet me at three o'clock at Grimmauld._

_ - Harry_

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_ Mrs. Malfoy –_

_There is something you need to know. Meet me at three o'clock at Number 12, Grimmauld Place._

_ - Harry Potter_

_

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_

Narcissa Malfoy walked towards the house she had not seen in years, wondering what on earth it was that Potter wanted to her to know. As she got closer she recognized someone, but it was not Potter. It was Andromeda. Andromeda, her sister, disowned for marrying a muggleborn. "Andy? What are doing here?"

Andromeda turned around. "Cissy? Harry told me that there was something I needed to know, and to meet him here at three. What are you doing here?"

"Potter sent me an owl that said much the same thing. Since it is the both of us, it must have something to do with a family member. I… I heard about your daughter, and I am sorry. I know I would be lost if something happened to Draco."

"Thank you, Cissy. It… it is good to see you again."

"Oh good, you are both here, shall we go inside?" Harry had come over unnoticed.

Once they were inside, Harry handed Andromeda a piece of paper. "Do you recognize this handwriting, Andromeda? Mrs. Malfoy?"

"Cissy, I think this is _Reggie's_ handwriting! It says

'**To the Dark Lord –**

** I know I will be dead long before you read this, but I want you to know it was I who discovered your secret.**

** I have stolen the real Horcrux** **and intend to destroy it as soon as I can. I face death in the hopes that when you finally meet your match, you will be mortal once more.**

**- R.A.B'**"

"Potter, the Dark Lord had a Horcrux?"

"Actually, Mrs. Malfoy –"

"Call me Narcissa, Mr. Potter"

"-_ Narcissa_, he had seven."

Andromeda and Narcissa both looked sick.

"_Seven_ horcruxes?

"Yes, Seven. The first one was the Diary that Lucius Malfoy gave to Ginny Weasley in my second year, although he did not know it was a Horcrux. The second one was a ring that had belonged to his grandfather, Marvolo Gaunt. The third was a locket that belonged to Slytherin, that is the one Regulus is referring to in his note. The forth was a cup that had belonged to Hufflepuff. The fifth was Ravenclaw's Lost Diadem. Voldemort's snake, Nagini, was a Horcrux as well."

"And the seventh one?" Inquired Andromeda

"The seventh one… the seventh one was me."

"Well, that certainly explains what happened in the forest."

"It does indeed, Cissy"

"I just thought you deserved to know that, despite the reputation of your family, all but one of your generation of Blacks helped to take down Voldemort in some way or another, and that you also deserved to know what happened to your cousin."

"Thank you, Potter, this means a lot to me."

"It was my pleasure, Narcissa. You can stay and look around for a while if you would like, I know you must have some childhood memories of this place. That goes for you as well, Andromeda."

_A/N: This plot bunny has been bugging me for weeks, so I am finally writing it down. The reason Narcissa is having Harry call her Narcissa, but still calling him Potter is that she feels like by having Harry call her Mrs. Malfoy, she is putting herself above her sister, who Harry calls by her given name, but she is not comfortable enough with him to call him Harry. Just thought I would clear that up. __R&R people!__ I will likely continue this with a conversation between Narcissa and Andromeda about what Harry has told them.  
_


	2. Chapter Two: Discusions

A/N: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling. I am not J.K. Rowling. Thus, Harry Potter does not belong to me.

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**Learning What Happened: The Fate of a Black**

Chapter II: Discussions

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Andromeda gazed sadly at the family tree, looking at only one portrait and the caption below it:

**Regulus Arcturus Black**

**1961-1979**

"He was so _young_, Cissy! He was only eighteen; he had his whole life ahead of him!" Moaned Andromeda

"I know Andy," soothed Narcissa, "but at least he didn't die in vain."

"Andromeda, Narcissa? I have a pensieve with me, and I can show you when Kreacher told me about Regulus, he was forbidden to tell any of the family, but he could tell me."

"Yes, please Harry, I want - no, I _need_ - to know what happened"

"As do I, Mr. Potter, I have always wondered what happened to him, especially since I was closer to him as a child then I was to anyone."

"OK, but please, Narcissa, call me Harry. You have more than earned the right."

Harry poured the memory into the Pensieve and watched with Narcissa and Andromeda his memory of that night, over a year ago, when learned of Regulus' last, heroic, decision.

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"**Mundungus Fletcher stole it all; Miss Bella's and Miss Cissy's pictures, my Mistress's gloves, the Order of Merlin, First Class, the goblets with the family crest, and – and – " **

**Kreacher was gulping for air: His hollow chest was rising and falling rapidly, then his eyes flew open and he uttered a bloodcurdling scream. **

"—_**and the locket, Master Regulus's locket. Kreacher did wrong, Kreacher failed in his orders!**_**" **

**Harry reacted instinctively: As Kreacher lunged for the poker standing in the grate, he launched himself upon the elf, flattening him. **

**Hermione's scream mingled with Kreacher's but Harry bellowed louder than both of them: "Kreacher, I order you to stay still!" **

**He felt the elf freeze and released him. Kreacher lay flat on the cold stone floor, tears gushing from his sagging eyes. **

"**Harry, let him up!" Hermione whispered. **

"**So he can beat himself up with the poker?" snorted Harry, kneeling beside the elf. "I don't think so. Right. Kreacher, I want the truth: How do you know Mundungus Fletcher stole the locket?" **

"**Kreacher saw him!" gasped the elf as tears poured over his snout and into his mouth full of graying teeth. "Kreacher saw him coming out of Kreacher's cupboard with his hands full of Kreacher's treasures. Kreacher told the sneak thief to stop, but Mundungus Fletcher laughed and r-ran … " **

"**You called the locket 'Master Regulus's,'" said Harry. "Why? Where did it come from? What did Regulus have to do with it? Kreacher, sit up and tell me everything you know about that locket, and everything Regulus had to do with it!" **

**The elf sat up, curled into a ball, placed his wet face between his knees, and began to rock backward and forward. When he spoke, his voice was muffled but quite distinct in the silent, echoing kitchen. **

"**Master Sirius ran away, good riddance, for he was a bad boy and broke my Mistress's heartwith his lawless ways. But Master Regulus had proper order; he knew what was due to the name of Black and the dignity of his pure blood. For years he talked of the Dark Lord, who was going to bring the wizards out of hiding to rule the Muggles and the Muggle-borns … and when he was sixteen years old, Master Regulus joined the Dark Lord. So proud, so proud, so happy to serve …**

**And one day, a year after he joined, Master Regulus came down to the kitchen to see Kreacher. Master Regulus always liked Kreacher. And Master Regulus said … he said …" **

**The old elf rocked faster than ever. **

"… **he said that the Dark Lord required an elf." **

"**Voldemort needed an **_**elf**_**?" Harry repeated, looking around at Ron and Hermione, who looked just as puzzled as he did. **

"**Oh yes," moaned Kreacher. "And Master Regulus had volunteered Kreacher. It was an honor, said Master Regulus, an honor for him and for Kreacher, who must be sure to do whatever the Dark Lord ordered him to do … and then to c-come home." **

**Kreacher rocked still faster, his breath coming in sobs. **

"**So Kreacher went to the Dark Lord. The Dark Lord did not tell Kreacher what they were to do, but took Kreacher with him to a cave beside the sea. And beyond the cave was a cavern, and in the cavern was a great black lake … "**

**The hairs on the back of Harry's neck stood up. Kreacher's croaking voice seemed to come to him from across the dark water. He saw what had happened as clearly as though he had been present. **

"… **There was a boat …" **

**Of course there had been a boat; Harry knew the boat, ghostly green and tiny, bewitched so as to carry one wizard and one victim toward the island in the center. This, then, was how Voldemort had tested the defenses surrounding the Horcrux, by borrowing a disposable creature, a house-elf… **

"**There was a b-basin full of potion on the island. The D-Dark Lord made Kreacher drink it …" **

**The elf quaked from head to foot. **

"**Kreacher drank, and as he drank he saw terrible thing … Kreacher's insides burned … Kreacher cried for Master Regulus to save him, he cried for his Mistress Black, but the Dark Lord only laughed … He made Kreacher drink all the potion … He dropped a locket into the empty basin … He filled it with more potion." **

"**And then the Dark Lord sailed away, leaving Kreacher on the island … " **

"** Harry could see it happening. He watched Voldemort's white, snakelike face vanishing into darkness, those red eyes fixed pitilessly on the thrashing elf whose death would occur within minutes, whenever he succumbed to the desperate thirst that the burning poison caused its victim … But here, Harry's imagination could go no further, for he could not see how Kreacher had escaped. **

"**Kreacher needed water, he crawled to the island's edge and he drank from the black lake … and hands, dead hands, came out of the water and dragged Kreacher under the surface … " **

"**How did you get away?" Harry asked, and he was not surprised to hear himself whispering. **

**Kreacher raised his ugly head and looked Harry with his great, bloodshot eyes. **

"**Master Regulus told Kreacher to come back," he said. **

"**I know – but how did you escape the Inferi?" **

**Kreacher did not seem to understand. **

"**Master Regulus told Kreacher to come back," he repeated. **

"**I know, but – " **

"**Well, it's obvious, isn't it, Harry?" said Ron. "He Disapparated!" **

"**But … you couldn't Apparate in and out of that cave," said Harry, "otherwise Dumbledore – " **

"**Elf magic isn't like wizard's magic, is it?" said Ron, "I mean, they can Apparate and Disapparate in and out of Hogwarts when we can't." **

**There was a silence as Harry digested this. How could Voldemort have made such a mistake? But even as he thought this, Hermione spoke, and her voice was icy. **

"**Of course, Voldemort would have considered the ways of house-elves far beneath his notice … It would never have occurred to him that they might have magic that he didn't." **

"**The house-elf's highest law is his Master's bidding," intoned Kreacher. "Kreacher was told to come home, so Kreacher came home … " **

"**Well, then, you did what you were told, didn't you?" said Hermione kindly. "You didn't disobey orders at all!" **

**Kreacher shook his head, rocking as fast as ever. **

"**So what happened when you got back?" Harry asked. "What did Regulus say when you told him what happened?" **

"**Master Regulus was very worried, very worried," croaked Kreacher. "Master Regulus told Kreacher to stay hidden and not to leave the house. And then … it was a little while later … Master Regulus came to find Kreacher in his cupboard one night, and Master Regulus was strange, not as he usually was, disturbed in his mind, Kreacher could tell … and he asked Kreacher to take him to the cave, the cave where Kreacher had gone with the Dark Lord … " **

**And so they had set off. Harry could visualize them quite clearly, the frightened old elf and the thin, dark Seeker who had so resembled Sirius … Kreacher knew how to open the concealed entrance to the underground cavern, knew how to raise the tiny boat: this time it was his beloved Regulus who sailed with him to the island with its basin of poison … **

"**And he made you drink the poison?" said Harry, disgusted. **

**But Kreacher shook his head and wept. Hermione's hands leapt to her mouth: She seemed to have understood something. **

The sisters had gone pale, and Narcissa breathed "Oh, _Merlin_, Reggie!"**  
**

"**M-Master Regulus took from his pocket a locket like the one the Dark Lord had," said Kreacher, tears pouring down either side of his snoutlike nose. "And he told Kreacher to take it and, when the basin was empty, to switch the lockets …" **

Narcissa and Andromeda both had tears in there eyes, shocked beyond words by the bravery and strength of character exhibited by their cousin in his final, defiant, choice**.  
**

**Kreacher's sobs came in great rasps now; Harry had to concentrate hard to understand him. **

"**And he ordered – Kreacher to leave – without him. And he told Kreacher – to go home – and never to tell my Mistress – what he had done – but to destroy – the first locket. And he drank – all the potion – and Kreacher swapped the lockets – and watched … as Master Regulus … was dragged beneath the water … and … " **

"**Oh, Kreacher!" wailed Hermione, who was crying. She dropped to her knees beside the elf and tried to hug him. At once he was on his feet, cringing away from her, quite obviously repulsed. **

"**The Mudblood touched Kreacher, he will not allow it, what would his Mistress say?" **

"**I told you not to call her 'Mudblood'!" snarled Harry, but the elf was already punishing himself. He fell to the ground and banged his forehead on the floor. **

"**Stop him – stop him!" Hermione cried. "Oh, don't you see now how sick it is, the way they've got to obey?" **

"**Kreacher – stop, stop!" shouted Harry. **

**The elf lay on the floor, panting and shivering, green mucus glistening around his snot, a bruise already blooming on his pallid forehead where he had struck himself, his eyes swollen and bloodshot and swimming in tears. Harry had never seen anything so pitiful. **

"**So you brought the locket home," he said relentlessly, for he was determined to know the full story. "And you tried to destroy it?" **

"**Nothing Kreacher did made any mark upon it," moaned the elf. "Kreacher tried everything, everything he knew, but nothing, nothing would work … So many powerful spells upon the casing, Kreacher was sure the way to destroy it was to get inside it, but it would not open … Kreacher punished himself, he tried again, he punished himself, he tried again. **

**Kreacher failed to obey orders, Kreacher could not destroy the locket! And his mistress was mad with grief, because Master Regulus had disappeared and Kreacher could not tell her what had happened, no, because Master Regulus had f-f-forbidden him to tell any of the f-f-family what happened in the c-cave …" **

**Kreacher began to sob so hard that there were no more coherent words. Tears flowed down Hermione's cheeks as she watched Kreacher, but she did not dare touch him again. Even Ron, who was no fan of Kreacher's, looked troubled.**

The memory ended**,** leaving Andromeda and Narcissa pale and saddened. Narcissa finally broke the silence, saying "S-Sirius would have been proud of him. He may have been in Slytherin, but in the end, he had courage enough to match _any_ Gryffindor."

Andromeda looked thoughtful "It seems that Reggie was more like you than we ever realized, Cissy. He was willing do anything to protect his family."

Narcissa looked touched "I also see so many similarities between him and my son. Draco joined at sixteen as well, and, like Reggie, he didn't fully comprehend what he was getting himself into."

Harry nodded "And like Regulus, Draco made the right choice in the end. In fact -" Harry handed Narcissa the note from the locket "- I want you to have this, as something to remember Regulus by, and because I think, after what you did, you deserve to have it because you, like him, care more about your family than anything else. "

"Thank you, Mr. Po- _Harry_ - you have no idea how much this means to me."

As Andromeda and Narcissa left, Harry smiled. While he had wanted to let Narcissa and Andromeda know the fate of their cousin, he had also been trying to give Andromeda a chance to reconnect with the only family she had left. And judging by the fact that Narcissa had invited her sister to bring Teddy over to Malfoy Manor to meet his grandmothers family, it seemed he had succeeded.

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A/N: Awkward ending, but oh well. This is it for this story! R&R peoples! Oh, and everything in bold is from the Kreacher's Tale chapter of Deathly Hallows. Is it sad that I have nicknames for everyone in the Black family - including the Lestranges and Malfoys?


	3. AN

A/N:

Thanks to all the reviews, story alerting and favorite storying of this fic, I was able to get into Draco's mind much easier all of a sudden, so it is with great pleasure that I announce: SEQUEL UP!


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